2025 Ernest C. Arbuckle Award Dinner Honoring James G. Coulter, MBA ’86, Highlights

Key Concepts

Arbuckle Award: An award presented by the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) to honor individuals for their contributions to the school, Stanford, and the wider community.
Ernie Arbuckle: The third dean of the Stanford GSB (1958-1968), who emphasized grounding management education in social science research and dual excellence in research and teaching.
GSB Mantra: "Change lives, change organizations, change the world," a mantra credited to Jim Coulter.
Texas Pacific Group (TPG): A global asset manager co-founded by Jim Coulter, known for groundbreaking investments and its operations group.
Impact Investing: A form of investing that aims to generate positive social or environmental impact alongside a financial return.
Values-Based Leadership: Leadership that is guided by a strong ethical framework and a commitment to principles.
Decision Tree Methodology: A framework for decision-making that involves evaluating choices as either/or options.
"And" Thinking: A leadership approach that seeks to integrate seemingly opposing concepts (e.g., profit and purpose) rather than choosing between them.
Leadership Hacks: Practical strategies or insights for effective leadership.
Amoral Tool: The concept that business, like fire, is a neutral tool whose morality depends on how it is used.
Arbuckle Architecture: A triangle of values: leadership, service, and excellence, representing Ernie Arbuckle's legacy.

Arbuckle Award and Ernie Arbuckle's Legacy

The Arbuckle Award is presented annually by the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) to honor individuals who have made significant contributions. This year's recipient is Jim Coulter. The award is named after Ernie Arbuckle, the third dean of the GSB, who served from 1958 to 1968. Arbuckle's tenure was a period of great transformation for both Stanford University and business education. He was instrumental in re-imagining and reorganizing management education, grounding it in social science research. Arbuckle committed the GSB to dual excellence in research and teaching, a legacy that continues today in preparing future leaders for uncertain times and identifying new opportunities. The need for exceptional leadership is highlighted as being more critical than ever, both locally, nationally, and globally.

Jim Coulter: Living the GSB Mantra

Jonathan, introducing Jim Coulter, uses the GSB mantra, "Change lives, change organizations, change the world," as a framework to illustrate how Coulter has embodied these principles.

Changing Organizations

After graduating from GSB in 1986, Jim Coulter joined David Bonderman to manage the family office of Bob Bass.
In 1992, at age 32, Coulter and David Amicley left the Bass family to found Texas Pacific Group (TPG) after a significant investment in Continental Airlines.
TPG's early success, under Coulter's leadership, involved expanding globally, establishing an operations group, and pioneering early tech and healthcare buyouts. These initiatives are credited with setting a precedent for the private equity industry and subsequent firms.
TPG has since evolved into a global asset manager, with a core ethos driven by a passion for investing, which Coulter has personally exemplified.

Changing the World

In 2005, Jonathan approached Coulter with the idea of starting a TPG foundation to donate a portion of the firm's profits to good causes.
Coulter, while acknowledging the importance of donations, emphasized that the firm's core skill sets as investors, board members, and organization builders were valuable in other contexts, suggesting a focus on donating time.
More recently, Coulter has been instrumental in TPG's impact investing franchise, a complex valued at approximately $100 billion, which supports over 80 companies addressing challenges in climate, education, and healthcare. This initiative is attributed to Coulter's creativity and drive.

Changing Lives

Coulter's endeavors have undeniably changed the lives of countless individuals.
What distinguishes Coulter, according to Jonathan, is not just what he has done, but how he has done it.
Coulter builds trust by seizing upon small, meaningful moments, such as sharing difficult decisions or offering support during times of loss (e.g., calling Jonathan after David Bonderman's passing).
He consistently demonstrates his commitment by showing up when it matters most, whether it's meeting a CEO internationally or attending personal events like a daughter's mitzvah. This embodies the essence of Coulter's approach to both his professional and personal life.

Jim Coulter's Remarks: Gratitude, Career Advice, and Leadership Philosophy

Jim Coulter, upon receiving the Arbuckle Award, expresses his gratitude and shares insights on leadership and life.

Gratitude

Coulter begins by acknowledging the profound privilege of working with skilled, intelligent, and compassionate partners, specifically mentioning Jonathan as an exemplar.
He humorously notes his lack of a prepared speech and a slide deck, deviating from his usual practice.
He references Cicero's quote, "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtue, it is the parent of all others," underscoring the importance of gratitude.
Coulter playfully touches upon Oscar speeches and their record-holders for thanking individuals, humorously suggesting he could aim for a record in the room but chooses to focus.
He expresses deep gratitude to the Stanford GSB faculty, mentioning professors like George, Wolson, Van Horn, and Holloway, stating their voices echo in his life.
Most importantly, he thanks his family, particularly his wife Penny, whom he places at a high level of importance in his life, stating that nothing would be possible without her.

Career Advice and "Pick Your Problems"

Coulter shares career advice received from friends, framing it as subtly crafted questions.
He offers specific advice:
- "If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room."
- In blackjack, "split aces, eights, and nines."
- "It's not enough to attend the meeting. You need to be in the meeting before the meeting and the meeting after the meeting."
- "If you are angry or at a bar or it's after midnight, read any text twice before you hit send. If you're angry in a bar and it's after midnight, do not send it at all."
- "Don't wrestle with pigs. You will both get dirty and the pig will like it."
Coulter elaborates on his core advice: "Pick your problems." He contrasts this with the common advice to "follow your passion," arguing that passion alone may not lead to a viable career.
He shares his career experience of picking problems, including sorting bankrupt airlines, restructuring banks in the US, China, and Korea, and repairing brands like Ducati, all while building a firm capable of handling these challenges independently.
He asserts that leadership begins with identifying and selecting problems that fit one's skills and can be solved, leading to success and satisfaction.
His broader advice is to "make the world's problems your problem," finding those that align with one's skills and are worthy of pursuit.

"And" Thinking vs. "Or" Thinking

Coulter introduces the concept of "and" thinking, contrasting it with the traditional "decision tree methodology" of choosing between A or B.
He argues that in complex situations, the correct leadership answer is often "A and B."
Examples provided include:
- Compassionate and conservative.
- Liberal and fiscally responsible.
- Aggressive and empathetic.
- Profit and purpose can coexist.
- Universities can defend principles and admit mistakes.
He observes that the world often defaults to "or" thinking, creating false dichotomies such as "business or social responsibility," "profitable or woke," or "agree with me or you're a loser."
Coulter advocates for searching for and finding "and" solutions, which he describes as smart, generous, and usually right, acknowledging that difficult tradeoffs are still necessary.

Leadership Hacks

Coulter shares three "leadership hacks" he has observed:

Curiosity: Great leaders are fundamentally curious about how the world works, how it could work differently, what people think, and how to exceed expectations. They read, travel, and absorb information. Coulter emphasizes that the magic of leadership lies in asking the right questions, which stems from curiosity. He connects this to research (about how the world works) and entrepreneurship (applied curiosity, asking "Could we do this a different way?").
Self-Awareness: Great leaders understand their own "superpowers" and recognize that these strengths can also be their "kryptonite" (weaknesses). They possess empathy because they understand their own limitations and surround themselves with supportive individuals ("scaffolding") rather than sycophants.
Optimism: Despite understanding practicality and constraints, great leaders maintain optimism, believing that problems can be solved. He quotes his partner Hank Pollson, who notes that effective leadership rarely begins with a grim outlook.

Capitalism as an "Amoral Beast"

Coulter discusses his work with Bono from U2, who described capitalism as an "amoral beast" that requires instruction.
Coulter relates this to his own career, viewing business as a framework of incentives and options, not an actor with inherent values.
He uses the analogy of fire: it is an amoral tool that can be used for good (heating a house) or destruction (burning it down). The morality lies in how the tool is used.
Coulter asserts that while business itself is amoral, business people need not be. They make the choices and provide the instruction.
He sees this as the GSB's opportunity and challenge: to train leaders in ethics, encourage the development of authentic personal moral frameworks, and educate them to "instruct" and "tame" the valuable "beast" of business.

The Arbuckle Architecture and Conclusion

Coulter expresses his admiration for Ernie Arbuckle, whom he never met but recognizes as a "prophet for values-based leadership."
He describes the "Arbuckle architecture" as a triangle of values: leadership, service, and excellence. This triangle is presented as an extraordinary legacy and a valuable roadmap for the graduating class and the institution.
He acknowledges being the 57th recipient of the award, joined by seven others that evening, representing a broader community touched by Arbuckle's legacy.
Coulter concludes with a hopeful note, wishing that his somewhat chaotic presentation was useful.
He ends with the two words he considers most important in business and life, which are not found in contracts or charters: "Thank you." He states these words are the "source code to my personal operating system" and are offered authentically and deeply.